anti-phishing toolbars

Hi guys, I am thinking of trying one of these toolbars but Do any of them have malware themselves? ie hijacking homepages because I see in scam blockers write up..........

and

Fraud eliminator or netcraft look promising. Are these free trials or "really free".
thanks Gordon

 

I can speak for fraud eliminator it is really free but the free version has less features than the paid version. No adware or spyware in either version.

Thanks,

Chris

 

ScamBlocker doesn't have malware. I have Spybot, Spy Sweeper, Ad-Aware, X-Cleaner, Counterspy and none report my Scamblocker toolbar.

M.

 

Both are free and FE has a paid version also.

 

Netcraft is a great option. I used to use it extensively. Spoofstick is also neat extension, though in some cases it slows down browsing speed.

Since both are free....just try them out and see what works for you!

 

Thanks for your input guys. I will trial FE and netcraft and see how they do.
Thanks again, Gordon

 

Am now trialling FE and so far impressed. Came across another today from Firetrust called SITEHOUND [who do Mailwasher of course.] There is a free and paid version like M'washer.

http://www.firetrust.com/firetrustsitehound.html?newsletter=08
Gordon

 

Ok I have been trying anti phishing toolbars for a few days now. So for anyone interested here is how I fared..............
Firstly I tried Fraudeliminator [free], Installation was trouble free. It looks good and seemed to work very well, but after a little while I noticed my Browser [I use IE6] started to freeze up on certain web pages. There are also numerous pop-ups asking you to buy and inform your friends and family about the programme. so I uninstalled it............ without any problem.
Then I tried Netcraft, even though I use ADSL, browsing was like being back on dial-up, very slow- and when I clicked on certain links on the Netcraft toolbar to visit their website, my Avast webshield denied access because it said there were dangerous elements on the pages I wanted to view! Hence that one didnt last long.
Then I tried firetrusts Sitehound, which certainly works, but the installation and registration process to retrieve an account seems rather complicated and wieldy. I got an error message 3 times. When finally up and running, there was no slow down in browsing but the GUI toolbar is not very nice. To obtain further info about a website you're visiting means opening another window. I visited some 'dubious' websites to try it out. It did warn me of the risk in entering 'those' sites but the free version [as firetrust do point out] does not inform you what that risk is unless you buy a registration. It maybe just an adult site or maybe some horrific malware waiting for you. So you cannot make an informed decision with the free version. Firetrust dont give you a months free trial either of the full version so you cant evaluate anything, the free version seems un-informative, so that was also uninstalled.
It would appear that MS have also developed an anti phishing toolbar, I believe it will be included in IE7 but a beta version for IE6 with an MSN toolbar can be found here.......but I cannot use it I still have SP1.

http://addins.msn.com/phishingfilter/

Gordon

 

Most developers of free software do add in ads and the like. Not much considering your using it for free. FE is a very good program and even moreso after purchase but if you feel it is not for you then that's how you feel.

Since you did not feel comfortable using it you can also try IP Guardian http://www.soft-trek.com.au/prjIpGuardian.asp

I think you will like it but again it is not free but from what I remember there are no ads or the like during the trial.

Thanks,

Chris

 

Thanks Chris, I will certainly give IPGuardian a whirl in the near future. I have actually done a clean re-install of Fraudeliminator to see If I can solve the issue of the browser freezing up, that was more of a problem to me than the pop-ups, [and I do like the programme.]
I have to say It does seem better this time, I dont know why it was freezing up last time. It seemed to do it when I got the "page cannot be displayed" message, and I had to close the browser and start again. So far [touch wood] it hasnt happened.
cheers Gordon

 

Please keep me informed so I can let the developer know about these issues. FE is a really good program for what you seem to be looking for. I'm glad you gave it another shot. Again please let me know any other issues you experience.

Thanks,

Chris

 

I have been using Fraudeliminator for a few months now and it has been working fine.
However, there seems to be a new one on the 'market', which is freeware, anyone tried this yet?............. CALLINGID It's write up is good.

http://callingid.com/CallingIDAndOthers.aspx

 

Ah now I see, free for 1 year only, as here...........

CallingID
07.29.05 Company: CallingID, www.callingid.com
Price: $39.95 per year, currently offering 1 year free
They dont tell you everything straight away do they?

 

I'll have a *really* free toolbar released in early January. Its in final stages of development now, but Christmas and New Year holidays have messed with the schedule a bit.

Mike

 

Dear Mike , Thanks
I look forward to its release.
Gordon

 

will u also make it as a firefox toolbar/extension?

addition: i tried FraudEliminator but it doesnt seem to work with firefox 1.5. IE toolbar works fine. i also tried the netcraft toolbar and tho it works, its look smushed and short with my SaFire theme. afaik all other toolbars are IE only, so for now im sticking to SpoofStick.

 

Yep, you can expect that shortly after the release of the IE bar.


Mike

 

I've only used Netcraft Toolbar (with Firefox 1.0.x and 1.5), but it has never given me a problem. And if it slowed anything down, I couldn't notice it.

But I've been wondering something: Do any of these toolbars also (attempt to) catch sites that are known to distribute malware ... or are they strictly and literally only for phishing sites?

For example, suppose there is some site that doesn't try fooling you with the URL, but does try to exploit a JavaScript bug that unleashes a trojan on your system.

 

I have SiteHound on my IE but don't use IE hardly ever but Sitehound updates quite often and seems to work well.

 

Dear Nameless, As far as I know they are for phishing sites only. But fraud eliminator does have a popup blocker as well, which can be tailored to your needs. It also warns if the site has been online for 1 year or less or 1 month etc. So can be quite useful. You can also report suspicious sites to the makers, who will, if applicable, add it to their 'latest threat updates', which are automatically updated.
good luck Gordon

 

To answer my own question, I got a response from Netcraft, saying "Only phishing sites."

It seems, from their description, that SiteHound covers malware sites and phishing sites. Unfortunately, they don't currently support Firefox, so I can forget that. (I also dislike their "freeware" version pretension.)

 

me too

Gordon

 

Hi everyone.

I work at CallingID and I noticed that you've mentioned CallingID toolbar previously in this thread so I wanted to offer to answer any questions you might have.

I'd also like to point out that the quote about CallingID having any type of timed evaluation is FALSE. The toolbar is completely free and only site that displays any kind of price/evaluation period is Download.com (Despite several requests, the have not amended the error). The toolbar is fully functionally on both IE and FX.

If there are any more questions, please ask me.

Thanx.

 

I am already using SpoofStick, Google anti-Phishing, and Site Advisor for my Firefox browser.... do you think I still need to install CallingID?

Maybe, different anti-phising equipments does its jobs differently and has some kind of differences in detecting fake websites and this has really made me aware of this. But, I hesitates that maybe they'll conflict with some already installed... or they'll just works in harmony?

I would like to ask one more question, are CallingID will not slow down my dial-up internet connection? COZ IF IT WILL, then I will not use it...

 

CallingID

Hi Sweater, Thanx for your questions.

Different toolbars use different technologies, databases and concepts when detecting phishing sites. CallingID (and our competitors, I'm sure) strive to offer the best possible solution with the fastest, most reliable and informative rating system. If phishing is a major concern to you then using several toolbars to double check each site is probably a good idea. Still, you'd want to use the best toolbars for this and therefore I encourage you to use CallingID.

The CallingID toolbar does not conflict with your other anti-phishing toolbars (it's been tested with ALL the anti-phishing toolbars and dozens of leading non-anti-phishing toolbars as well).

While CallingID and all other site-verification software require extra communication with a server, CallingID transfers only a tiny amount of info per site (and even less if it's a site you've visited before). It will affect you connection, but to such a small degree that you won't even notice it.

Thanx again for your excellent questions, please let me know if you have any more.